Lion Air pilot was set to come home for Diwali
New Delhi, Oct. 29: Bhavye Suneja’s family was eagerly waiting for him to return home for Diwali, a feature at their Delhi residence that has continued for years. That wait tragically ended Monday for all times to come.
Suneja, 31, was flying the Lion Air flight JT610 which lost contact with ground officials, 13 minutes after taking off from an airport in Indonesia, and crashed into the Java Sea, tragically ending all possibilities of his homecoming.
The distraught family struggled to accept the news, when they saw on television that the plane Bhavye was flying had crashed. His mother, Sangeeta Suneja, was in tears.
With folded hands, she requested mediapersons gathered outside their Mayur Vihar residence to “please pray for us”.
Neighbours recalled Bhavye as a “sweet boy”. They had seen him grow and were shocked on hearing about his sudden death. “My daughter studied with Bhavye in school. Today, she called me from Dubai to say, ‘ Bhavye died’ and expressed her shock,” said the family’s neighbour P. K. Sinha.
“Bhavye’s father has been putting up a brave front and has not cried but we know what he is going through.”
Mr Sinha said Bhavye visited home for Diwali every year, and even this year he was to come.
After he completed his studies at Ahlcon Public School in Mayur Vihar, Bhavye received his flying licence in 2009. His father, Gulshan Suneja, is a chartered accountant and his mother, Sangeeta, works with Air India.
An Air India official said Sangeeta Suneja is working with passenger handling department of the airline at Delhi Airport.
Bhavye married in 2016 and was based in Jakarta with his wife Garima Sethi.